How do We Ride the Winds?
Summary: 1800s Navy/Pirates AU in an omegaverse concept. Branded by nature as an omega, bestowed with a broke gambler father, Ruby breaks the tides and fate as a pirate with her uncle. On the other side, a captain of Atlesian frigate, the unlikely alpha Weiss Schnee has lots more to worry than pirate ambushes, a sister in the madhouse and her own corrupted family hounding her across deep waters.
Yeah, you hear it right, omegaverse with a flavor of Pirates of Carribean(?)
WARNING : Innuendos of sexual content (if you squint).
To capture a Navy sailor or a marine was so common, but a captain? There were only few things surpassing such achievement for pirates—and few disgraces worse for a Navy captain than getting shanghaied by sea-scoundrels.
Crescent Rose, the rogue brigantine once maimed by her command and her crews, now became her prison.
Weiss Schnee, the captain of notorious INS Myrtenaster, now being held and forced to the labor of a deckhand for a band of measly pirates.
An alpha she might be biological-wise, but her generally small stature betrayed that notion. Her raw strength would be too lacking to turn the capstan and hauled the heavy anchor (or to wrest her freedom through bunches of brawny pirates), but she'd refuse to have her pride stomped further by scrubbing dark gun deck and provision cellar infested with rum stench and maggots. Hence she was elated to be shoved into a duty of working with whatever mess on the upper deck.
On the topgallant yard she worked with the sail, with flimsy ratline as her only safety from crashing down the great heights. Good heavens, she still retained her agility in climbing high-rising masts and operating rigging from her old days as a deckhand in her own father's merchant ship. Brigantine's rigging was different from that of a clipper or a frigate, but she easily adapted to which pulleys and braids of rope to work on.
Weiss held a form of pride inside, knowing she was the author behind this ship's scars of busted masts and riggings. Yet she was also frustrated with how flimsy those dolt pirates repairing their own damage and made the rigging even harder to work with.
A low-ranked crew called her with insulting name she didn't bother to know, telling her she was expected by Crescent Rose's captain. Biting her inner cheek not to insult back, Weiss climbed down the rope ladder all the way down.
Draped in maroon coat and flashy red hood, there stood Ruby Rose. The captain-like figure of Crescent Rose, famed for her speed and sickle-sword—and most important of all, an omega.
Seafaring business, let alone piracy, wasn't something for tender and meek omegas to handle, with rough sea and hungry alpha (and hormonal beta) crews ready to ravage them whether they were in heat or not. How could an omega survived the harsh sailor's life, and being the leader figure nonetheless, put Weiss and many to wonders.
"Captain Schnee, come with me to my quarters."
A pair of white eyebrows furrowed. That wasn't she expected. "What courteous of you, addressing me with that, while I'm just your hostage."
"You're a hostage when someone sees loss from your absence, and benefit from taking you back, Weiss Schnee."
"Are you implying I've lost my worth?" Weiss hissed.
The silver-eyed pirate let that question unanswered and walked ahead to captain's quarters. There was an allusion of freedom of choice, to follow or not to follow, but Weiss saw no benefit on opting for anything aside from following her.
A table for two had been set neatly inside. Weiss sat quietly face-to-face with Ruby, guessing what sick joke disguised as private fancy lunch.
"Be at ease, hm? No one will harm you as long as the captain says not to."
"Which is the true captain in charge, however? You, or Qrow Branwen?"
Weiss didn't find the smile given by Ruby a satisfying reply, but the incoming appetizer halt any words of swords from her mouth. Her mouth watered, but she knew it wasn't the time to allude her hunger.
Until she wolfed down the entirety of the broccoli cream soup, she hadn't realized how starving she was.
Weiss couldn't mistake the royal blue hue littering the corner of her eyes. Her Imperial Navy coat and crested bicorn hat was hanged neatly, obviously placed as the pirate captain's trophy—and shown to her ire. She couldn't see her rapier and sabre anywhere, thus diminishing her chance to fight to zero.
Ruby Rose and her scheme of bragging how helpless the Navy captain was—disarming her from her uniform, weapons and dignity, feeding her with captain's luxurious meal in condescending pity.
"It's not the first time we met," chirped the pirate, right when the main course of floured fried fish and mashed potatoes was brought in. "So I actually hope we have less hostility between us."
"Frankly speaking, I can't see any circumstance when we can be not hostile to each other," the snow-haired woman retorted sharply, "barring any events that involves me rutting to your heat."
Ruby didn't reply but with child-like pitch perfect laughter.
Oh, it was so easy for Weiss, to shun her refined self-control and let her basic alpha need roused awake by the omega's enticing scent. She could pounce on this sweet omega seafarer, worked her length drilling deep and defiled Ruby's warm cove with her seed. If she strongly desired to, she could try to held Ruby hostage until the cycle of heat got the pirate captain buckled under animalistic want.
A feared pirate Ruby Rose might be, she was still an omega. Her heat would be her undoing and bring her to her knees, begging to be bred by Weiss.
Yes, that was a perfect plan—if only Qrow Branwen wasn't on board, watching both the silver-eyed pirate and her with his sharp crimson eyes.
The captive white-haired Navy ate in silence, trying to halt her fantasy and Ruby's natural scent from making her trousers felt stuffy.
The dessert that came after surprised Weiss. A small plate of ripe strawberries, cut into delectable slice arranged beautifully. Only magic and sorcery that would allow such fresh sweet perishable to be present in this mangy pirate brigantine.
She spied those small rosy lips that touched sweet strawberry slices.
"What if I say I have an honest will to return you back to your ship?" Ruby smiled, letting her words slipped as smooth as strawberries sliding through her lips.
She saw how eyes of frozen sea spearing for truth from her words and her own silver-tinted ones.
"And why haven't you done it?"
"Pirates or Navy, we both know certain things only can be paid in 'blood money'."
Ruby took in deep breath before she hauled it out in a contented sigh. Breeze of icy sea coming from Weiss went so well with fresh whiff of strawberries, wrapping her tongue gently with the juiciness of her favorite fruit.
Sweet vanilla. Gentle aster. Soft but domineering air of northern sea's frost and iceberg.
Weiss' thin alpha scent. So laughably thin compared to her father's, Yang's, or even to any alpha sailors of Crescent Rose's crew.
Still, it was lovely and bewitching the omega.
The three-course meal was finished to last morsel. Ruby still felt a pang of hunger inside, while the snow-haired Navy looked so eager to leave.
"Thank you for the meal. I'll be going to get my jobs done."
She wanted to stall the alpha Navy captain inside her quarters longer, if not forever. However, she did nothing to stop Weiss from leaving her quarters. The alpha captain-turned-deckhand had gone back to work, scrubbing a cannon on the weather deck.
Qrow watched from the crow's nest. Her uncle watched, red eyes be like sentries that wouldn't let any single movement of Weiss Schnee unnoticed. She was sure her uncle would interrogate her later about the Atlesian alpha and their private lunch.
Stench of sweat, mucks of salty humidity from the ocean overpowered Weiss' dilute and unassuming scent. Still, her sense easily picked up the alpha's essence and evoked a primordial omega reaction inside Ruby.
There was an urge to huddle against the beautiful alpha, dousing her presence with the fragile, sweet and icy scent-and maybe, to impale herself to the alpha's hardened mast, boarding to a lustful ride that appeased her starving warmth inside.
INS = Imperial Navy Ship. A prefix present in every warship owned by Atlas Imperial Navy.
Inspired by Kuma's pirate au and this particular fiction titled 'The Devil and the Deep' in AO3.
Yes, shanghaied! Just like your 'ole Spongebob pirate episode! No, no, really, shanghai is a legit verb as well as a city in China. Shanghai means to abduct or force someone to work on a ship.
I've only read an abridged version of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, but somehow I write Weiss with an image of Horatio Hornblower in my head. And Mary Read for Ruby just…well, y'know female pirates in a sea of male pirates and an omega being a captain of (mostly) alpha and beta scoundrels. Oh well, I guess I think I need to read more Hornblower series, and maybe some other Age of Sail classics too?
P.S. For me, Ruby will always be a courageous, leading, rebellious and cute omega. You can't convince me otherwise. Fite me, mate.